AP PhotoChris Osgood's groin had been bothering him for a couple of months.

DENVER -- Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood has a "significant'' tear in his groin and will have surgery Tuesday morning to repair a sports hernia, general manager Ken Holland said.

Osgood will be out 6-8 weeks.

Osgood, whose groin has been bothering him for a couple of months, flew to Philadelphia today to see a specialist, Dr. William Meyers, the doctor who has performed the same surgery on, among others, Kris Draper and Tomas Holmstrom.

Holland said the club is hopeful Osgood will be back in six weeks. In either case, he'll have plenty of time to get prepared for the playoffs.

Holland said the club will not make a move to acquire a goaltender through trade or waivers. Jimmy Howard will continue to get the bulk of the starts -- his workload likely will be increased even more -- and Joey MacDonald, recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins, will fill in occasionally.

"If you look at our schedule over the next 4-5 weeks, we've done the hardest part,'' Holland said. "We have lots of games spread out, easy travel. We can play Jimmy a lot. And we'll play Joey MacDonald in the games Ozzie was supposed to play.''

Although the Red Wings now have the ability to go over the salary cap by a significant margin due to their long-term injuries, Holland said that would only create a problem when everyone is healthy.

"When everyone is healthy we're about $500,000 to $700,000 under the cap,'' Holland said. "We're in no position to start picking up contract and then have to get rid of guys when everyone gets back.''